Red-winged Blackbird

Agelaius phoeniceus

Summary 5

The red-winged blackbird (Agelaius phoeniceus) is a passerine bird of the family Icteridae found in most of North America and much of Central America. It may winter as far north as Pennsylvania and British Columbia, but northern populations are generally migratory, moving south to Mexico and the southern United States. It is a year-round resident of most of the continental US. Claims have been made that it is the most abundant living land bird in North America, as bird-counting censuses of wintering red-winged blackbirds sometimes show that loose flocks can number in excess of a million birds per flock and the full number of breeding pairs across North and Central America may exceed 250 million in peak years. It also ranks among the best-studied wild bird species in the world. Males are glossy black with scarlet and yellow shoulder patches, while females are streaky brown, like a large dark sparrow. They are 6.7 to 9.1 inches long. They are year-round residents of the COSA, although they seem to be less commonly spotted from July to September.

Sources and Credits

  1. (c) dloarie, some rights reserved (CC BY), uploaded by dloarie, http://www.flickr.com/photos/57556735@N08/5614339461
  2. (c) Gerry, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC-ND), https://www.flickr.com/photos/hudsonian-godwit/38217848216/
  3. (c) Dan Mullen, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC-ND), https://www.flickr.com/photos/8583446@N05/3513325538/
  4. (c) Steven Pavlov, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA), http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Agelaius_phoeniceus,_female.jpg
  5. Adapted by dirstine from a work by (c) Wikipedia, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA), http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Agelaius_phoeniceus

More Info

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